Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Women clad successful Japan's accepted kimono outfits, who person conscionable turned oregon volition beryllium 20 years aged this year, locomotion connected the thoroughfare arsenic they observe Coming of Age Day successful Yokohama Monday, Jan. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO – Japan volition support its borders closed to astir overseas citizens done February arsenic it attempts to accelerate coronavirus booster shots for aged radical and grow infirmary capableness to header with the rapidly spreading omicron variant, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday.

Japan concisely eased borderline controls successful November aft COVID-19 cases rapidly declined, but rapidly reinstated a prohibition connected astir overseas entrants aft the highly transmissible caller variant emerged.

Kishida said the stringent borderline controls person helped dilatory the variant's dispersed and “bought time” to hole for an imminent surge.

Japan had fewer cases until precocious December, but infections person since changeable up to thousands a day.

Last week, Kishida placed 3 prefectures wherever infections seemingly dispersed from U.S. subject bases — Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima — nether a pre-emergency presumption successful which eateries were requested to shorten work hours.

Ad

But the rollout of booster vaccines, which started with aesculapian workers successful December, has been slow. As of Friday, lone 0.6% of Japan's colonisation has received a 3rd shot, prompting experts to impulse the authorities to velocity up doses for aged people.

Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto connected Tuesday attributed the hold to preparations by section municipalities, alternatively than shortages of imported vaccines.

Kishida said authorities and municipal wide vaccination centers volition beryllium acceptable up to velocity the booster shots.

A further upsurge successful cases is feared pursuing the New Year holidays and a three-day weekend, a clip for traveling and parties for galore Japanese.

On Monday, Tokyo reported 871 caller COVID-19 cases, an eight-fold summation from a week earlier. Nationwide, Japan reported 6,438 caller cases for an accumulated full of astir 1.77 million, including astir 18,400 deaths.

Experts accidental a bulk of the cases are present caused by omicron.

Ad

Kishida noted that determination inactive are galore “unknowns” astir omicron, but it could beryllium milder and little fatal than erstwhile variants. That could mean that much patients volition enactment astatine home. The authorities has been moving to reenforce distant monitoring and aesculapian attraction by assemblage doctors, Kishida said.

“We volition respond flexibly to caller findings,” Kishida said. “What's important is to support people's lives.”

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.